


In the Cold

by spidey_pig



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Crime Fighting, Original Character(s), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 00:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17192771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spidey_pig/pseuds/spidey_pig
Summary: Riley is starting her sophomore year at highschool, and life is getting hard. She's a new school  with very high standards and has a new job to help pay for school, but is struggling to keep make ends meet. So when she gets offered a better paying job at a big science corporation, she can't believe how lucky she is. But not long after she starts working there, something odd happens, making her think she isn't quiet so lucky. As she struggles to figure out what's going on, she gets the help of a friendly neighborhood hero, who has taken a sudden interest in her, along with one of her new classmates.Edit: this story is being abandoned :/





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic! I'm excited and nervous of what you guys will think, but let me know! I hope you enjoy!

It’s cold. That’s all I notice at first, the blistering cold, forcing me to get up. I wake up slowly, blinking groggily. It’s really dark here. ‘Why is it so dark? I thought I left the lights on.” I wonder to myself. I try to move, my mind still moving slowly. As I try to move, I realize that my movements feel...odd. Then it hits me all at once - I’m underwater. I panic, and start thrashing around, desperately trying to make my way to the surface, but I don’t know what way to go. All can see is darkness. As I keep trying to swim up, I feel that lack of air and the cold getting to me more and more each second, making me panic even more. ‘This is it,’ I think, ‘This is how I die. But how did I get here? I was just in…’ My thoughts trail off, unable to come up with an answer. But that’s unimportant, I need to get out of the water, now. But my vision starts fading, and I can feel myself starting to go. Just as I begin to feel myself slip away, I hear a loud noise-

 

* * *

 

 

I wake up so violently, I fall out of bed and hit my head on my bedside table. “Ow,” I mumble to myself grouchily, smacking around on my table to find my alarm and turn the wretched thing off. Once it’s off, I sit on the floor for a little bit, going over the dream I just had. It felt oddly real, but how would I have gotten into a situation like that? I know how to swim decently enough, and it’s not like anyone has any grudges against you and would put you in a situation like that. So why the dream? Shaking it out of my head, I get up and move around my small room, getting ready for the day. When I’m ready, I glance at my phone, checking the time, and groan. It’s already time for me to leave for school. I debate eating breakfast and just being late, but it is the first day of school, and the first day at my new fancy, expensive high school. Did I mention it was expensive? I’m going to have to get a job of some sort to help pay for things, after all it is just me and my dad, and as hard as he works, he doesn't make that much. It was just enough to make ends meet before, which was a miracle considering we live in New York, but now with your added tuition… things were going to be rough. But, if I knew myself and my dad, you could get through anything together. Filing the thought to look for a job away for later, I head out for school, at least grabbing an apple to eat on the way there. Getting onto the subway, I put my headphones in so no one bothers me. 

 

Once I get out, it’s a short walk to my new school, Midtown School of Science and Technology. I pause at the front of it, looking at all the students crowding inside for the first day. Some look nervous, unsure of what to do, some just laughing with their friends, happy to see them after the summer break, and some are...studying? Well that’s a new one. Never would’ve seen that back in public school, but I guess that’s why this is a private school, not a public one. These kids were willing to work more towards academic success, or were just really smart, both making some bad feelings bubble up. I shake the thought out of my head, I took the entrance exam and passed like everyone else here, so I belong here as much as any of these other kids do.

 

Just as I’m about to head inside and get my schedule from the office, someone crashes into me from behind. Almost falling face first into the pavement, I think ‘Great, I’m sure a busted up face will make a good impression on everyone I meet today.’ But just before I hit the ground, strong hands grab me and pick me back up. I wheel around, looking to see who just saved me from face planting, I see a boy, sort of short, but around my height so maybe not  _ that  _ short. He has brown curly hair and brown eyes, and looks nice, but kind of small. How was it that he was able to make sure I didn’t fall? He looks like one good push would send him toppling over. I’m there staring at him for a minute, before realizing he’s saying something to me, but I can’t hear what he’s trying to say to me because of my music playing. “Oh sorry, I didn’t catch that, what did you say?” I ask, taking my headphones out, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I was just asking if you were ok, I didn’t mean to run into you, I should’ve been paying more attention, so, uh, sorry.” He says, shifting from foot to foot, glancing around a bit. I can’t tell if he just feels awkward or if he just really wants to leave the conversation as fast as possible. “It’s fine, you just startled me. But do you know where the office is? I’m new and I need to grab my schedule,’ I ask, hoping that this kid will be nice enough to help. “Oh! Uh, sure, no problem!” He says, sputtering a bit. ‘Awkward it is’ I think following him through the school and into the office, ‘At least he isn’t a total jerk.’

 

Once you both get into the office, the secretary looks up. “Oh, Peter! Good timing, Principle Morita was just about to call you down to ask a favor of you, go ahead and head on in to his office now.” She says in a bright tone. I glance at Peter as he heads over to the office, looking confused but not worried. 

 

Then she addresses me “And what do you need dear?” She asks kindly, and I take a breath. “I’m a new student here, and I need to pick up my schedule,” I say, right before the bell rings for class to start. ‘Well, so much for not being late for my first day.’ I think, sighing. “Ok, let me just grab that for you..?” She trails off, and I realize I never gave my name. “Riley Hazel,” I state. She nods, and starts typing on her computer, and after a few moments, she starts printing off my schedule. Once it’s done, she hands it to me and says “Here you go Riley, and if you wait here, Peter will be out in a minute and will help you get to class.” I grab my schedule, slightly confused as to why he is taking me to class. The secretary must’ve seen it in my face, because she explains “Peter is one of the top students here, and you both have almost the same schedule, so we thought it’d be good to pair you up with him so he can help you with what you need.” She says kindly, giving me a small smile. Just as I’m about to respond, the office door opens and Peter and Principal Morita walk out. “Ah, I see that you’re ready to go Riley, I won’t keep you two from class, good luck on your first day.” Principle Morita says, returning to his office. I look at Peter, who looks a bit uncomfortable, but gives me an awkward half smile. “Well, uh, I guess we should head to class now.” Peter says, starting out of the office, and winding us through the halls. 

 

“So, uh I guess we never really introduced ourselves, I’m Peter.” He rubs the back of his head, not really looking at in my direction. “I’m Riley, nice to meet you Peter,” I say as we head up some stairs. “Thanks for leading me around, it’s really nice of you, though, it doesn’t seem like they gave you much of an option,” I say, laughing sheepishly. 

“No! I mean, well uh..” He sputters, looking around frantically, “It’s cool! Uh, I don’t really mind showing you around and stuff, so, uh, don’t worry.” He says, starting to turn a bit red. 

“So, what’s it like here? Everything looks nice.” I ask, trying to change the conversation, seeing as the first try didn’t go so well. 

“It’s pretty good here, the classes are good, and they have a lot of extracurriculars, which is nice,” Peter comments, seemingly glad with the new direction of the conversation. 

“What are some?” 

“Well, uh, there’s band, robotics, academic decathlon, which I’m a part of…” He trails off, and frowns, thinking of something.

“Oh yeah! I heard you guys went to state last year and got to meet Spider-Man! Were you there?” I question him excitedly, after all, Spider-Man was really cool.

“Uh, well, yes and no,” Peter says, looking nervous, “I went but, uh, I got...sick, yeah sick, and uh, could go out the day that happened.”

“Well, that’s a shame, meeting Spider-Man would be awesome! He’s an awesome superhero, and it’d be amazing to be able to meet him and see him in action.” I exclaim, brushing off Peter’s awkwardness as embarrassment. 

Peter goes noticeably red, and mumbles “Yeah, I guess.” 

 

Just then, we show up to the class, and we head in. “Ah, Peter, you made it, and it seems you brought our new student!” The teacher announces warmly, while Peter slinks off to take a seat while I stay standing at the front. “Class, this is Riley, be sure to make her feel welcome,” he says, then turns to me. “I’m Mr. Harrington, let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.” He pats my shoulder, I nod and quickly head to a seat, finding one in the back near a girl with wild curls, and who is staring at me with what seems to be boredom. Mr. Harrington starts talking at the front, and I glance at the girl again, thinking of trying to talk to her, but I find her intently reading a book that she seemingly pulled from nowhere. I sigh, then glance around to find Peter. He’s sitting in the middle, talking animatedly to a guy sitting next to him. It was nice to see him so carefree, though I guess I shouldn’t judge him, seeing as I only just met him. Dragging my attention away from Peter, and try to focus on the lesson for the rest of the class. ‘Stop thinking about Peter for now, I came here to get a good education, worry about that first,’ I decide, pulling out a notebook and pen and taking some notes. ‘Hopefully, the rest of the day will go well.’ I hope, as I sit through the class, unbothered by anyone. 


	2. Chapter Two

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, I packed up my things and headed for Peter, so we could head to our next class. Before I could get to him though, my path was blocked some guy. He looked me up and down, smirked, and introduced himself.

“Hey, I’m Flash.” He said, trying to look as suave as possible. ‘Oh great, this should be fun, now I get to deal with this guy. Lucky me.’ I think.

“Charmed,” I reply tightly, trying to see where Peter was, maybe he’d help me out of this uncomfortable situation.

“So, since you’re new, you could use someone to show you around, maybe introduce you to some people, the works,” he says, moving closer to me.

“Well that’s… nice of you to offer, but uh, Peter’s already doing that for me so..” I trail off, moving around him and towards the door.

“Who? Penis Parker? Sounds awful, he’s just-”

“Flash! How about you stop harassing this girl and get to your own class? I wouldn’t want to have to drop you from the decathlon team because you can’t get to your classes.” I turn to see who said that, and I see the girl I sat next to earlier walking up from the back of the class, looking only slightly annoyed. 

“You can’t kick me from the team Michelle, you don’t have anyone to take my place!” Flash says, looking a bit flustered.

“Well, I’m sure I could find somebody well in time.” The girl, Michelle I guess, replies smoothly, looking him straight in the eyes, and not backing down for a second.

I look at Flash, waiting to see if he’ll call her bluff, but then again, I’m not quite sure she  _ is _ bluffing.

“Yeah, well, have fun in their loser pack, Riley.” Flash sneers at me, leaving the classroom.

 

I stand there, shocked at the entire showdown, ‘She hardly acknowledged my mere existence earlier, but now she’s coming to my defense? This is weird, but I guess I can’t really complain, she did get Flash to go away.’ I think relaxing a bit. I look around for Peter, and I see him still engrossed in a conversation with the same guy he was talking to earlier.

“Flash is an annoying asshole, don’t let him push you around.” Michelle says, walking away.

“Oh, well um, thank you!” I call after her, then head over to Peter and his friend. Once I get close, their conversation cuts off and they both look up at me.

“So, um, should we go to our next class?” I ask, feeling a bit self conscious with them both staring at me.

“Oh! Right, yeah let’s get moving so we’re not late.” Peter replies, gathering his things and getting up. “Oh, and this is Ned, he’s my best friend, Ned this is Riley.” Peter introduces us. 

I wave. “Hey Ned, what’s up?” I ask lamely, unsure what else to say.

“Hey! So where’d you go before this? Are you from around here? Are you from a different state? Was your last school like this-” He chatters as we head out of the classroom, before I cut in.

“Well, I just went to public school before, nothing fancy, and I live around here, and my last school was normal, just kinda boring, so I decided I’d try and get in here so I could apply myself more.” I answer, before he goes off on a tangent. He seems a bit over energized, but it’s kind of nice to hear someone so comfortable with talking.

“Oh, well cool! So do you like Star Wars? Because I have a new theory about the new one and..” He goes on until we get to our next class. It’s nice, being accepted so easily by someone, so I keep talking with them, Peter slowly warms up to me and starts to talk more as the day goes on. 

 

At lunch, we get on the topic of heroes.

“So, who’s your favorite Avenger?” Ned asks as we sit down with our food.

“Avengers or superhero? Because those are two different answers.” I retort, taking a bite.

“Both, start with Avengers.” He says excitedly.

“Well, Captain America is cool, but I think I have to go with either Iron Man since he’s really smart and has done a lot of great stuff, or Black Widow, she’s hella badass and could kill a man in 5 seconds without breaking a sweat, it’s awesome!” I exclaim. “What about you two? Favorite Avenger?” I question.

“Oh, Thor for sure! He’s so cool, with the lightning and being able to fly! It’s amazing!” Ned excitedly replies.

“I like Iron Man the best.” Peter says, smiling a bit.

“Well, yeah, cuz you work for him dude, you’re a bit biased.” Ned retorts, rolling his eyes, but smiling all the same.

“Woah, you work for Tony Stark?!? That’s amazing! How’d you even get a job like that, we’re in high school!” I ask, wholly surprised at what I’m hearing. ‘I knew they said Peter was top of the class, but this is insane!’ I think to myself, waiting for his reply.

“Oh, I got an internship at Stark Industries, and Mr. Stark is my boss. It’s nothing too crazy, just normal interning sort of stuff.” He says, then changes the subject, “But Riley, you never said who your favorite superhero was.”

“Oh, right, it’s Spider-Man. He’s just really cool! He helps out around Queens and makes it safer, and is really nice! I even heard he helped out the Avengers one time, which just makes him cooler! Plus how he gets around is just wild! Like I’m not sure really how he does it, but it looks like fun, and I bet he’s seen some really amazing views of New York.” I gush, then look over at Peter, who is a bit red and shifting awkwardly in his seat, refusing to meet my eyes.

“Totally! I met him in D.C. when he saved some of us in the Washington Monument. Peter knows him too!” He says, smiling widely and nudging Peter.

“You know Spider-Man?” I say ‘Man, this guy has some real curve-balls up his sleeve!’ I figure.

“No, not really, I’ve met him once or twice, didn’t really get to talk to him, but he seemed cool.” Peter responds coolly, giving Ned a sharp look.

“Oh, well, that’s cool too!” I add awkwardly, wondering what made Peter act so out of character.

 

The conversation goes on, we talk more in depth about the Avengers and eventually about other things, and that’s how pretty much the rest of the school day goes.AT the end of the day, we have to part ways.

“So, what do you guys normally do after school?” I inquire, genuinely curious.

“Uh, we kinda just do whatever, but today we have an academic decathlon meeting. Seems like we’re not gonna get a break with MJ as our captain.” Peter tells me, with a slight grimace.

“MJ? Do you mean Michelle? I think I met her earlier.” I ask, thinking back to first period.

“Oh yeah, we just call her MJ for short.” Peter answer, “When did you meet her?”

“Back in first period, I was getting up to head over to you guys and that Flash guy started hitting on me and she scared him off for me. It was really nice of her, considering she doesn’t really know me and all.” I tell them, feeling sort of awkward telling them about Flash.

“Ewwww, Flash hit on you? I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Ned remarks, patting me on the arm sympathetically.

“Yeah, it wasn’t great,” I laugh, “But at least she told him off, she threatened to kick him off the team I guess.” I add.

“Wow, that’s kind of out of character for her, I don’t think she’d do that for most people.” Peter states, his eyebrows shooting up.

“I don’t know, she doesn’t really know me, maybe it’s because I’m new?” I theorize, unable to think of anything else.

“Hmm, maybe, but who knows! It’s MJ, and she’d never reveal her secrets.” Ned claims, then adds “Well, we really should be going, we don’t want to be her next targets!”

“Right, well, have fun!” See you guys tomorrow!” I wave, then head out and back home, suddenly feeling exhausted from my day.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Feedback and suggestions are welcome! More chapters to come!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think! Feedback is welcome! Thanks for reading! More chapters to come!


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